Sword, Magic and Academic Society

The Kingdom\'s Knight Order had seven legions including the royal guards, and it was a chivalric order of as many as 900 members. And there were only 200 mages in it, including engineers.

It might appear to be a very small force in case of a war against another nation, but when push came to shove, the Kingdom utilized the private armies of the top-ranking nobles and the knight course graduates of the lower-ranking nobles to form its army. For that reason, they would also undergo regular drills so that they could be deployed during wartime from a peaceful moment.

They were usually enough to deal with the subjugation of the usual formidable monsters or monster stampedes, but during an invasion from another nation, volunteer soldiers from commoners and explorers were recruited.

In this world where almost anyone above the age of 12 could use magic, even the common folk proved to be enough to hold down the fort. Commanding this assorted company was the Kingdom\'s Knight Order. It needed no further explanation as to what kind of influential person a legion commander had to be.

It was just 5 minutes before the appointed time that I arrived in front of the military post of the 3rd Legion feeling a bit nervous but also expectant. I braced myself and passed through the gate.

◆◆◆

"Pardon me! I\'m Allen Rovenne from the Royal Academy! I have an appointment with the 3rd Legion commander Dew Owiel!"

I shouted in a loud voice at the entrance of what seemed to be the guard post beside the gate. There was no door to knock on so I could only raise my voice.

"\'Sup, I was just expecting you to drop by. The name\'s Dante. Nice to meet you!"

In response to my voice, a 2m tall giant with ripped muscles and around 120 kg in weight came out from the inside. He gave off quite a brisk vibe with his glossy, short-cut silver hair and amicable gaze. I must say he had everything he needed to be popular back in Japan, or should have as his look was ruined by his double chin.

Dante-san was donning an embroidered, black-toned mantle of the 3rd Legion that I had caught sight of in this Royal Capital— each mantle had its own unique embroidery, apparently.

I grasped the hand that he extended for a handshake, and received a surprise. His grip was fairly normal, but that rock-like feedback from his palm made me feel the extent of his skill in body-strengthening magic.

...He was strong. Honestly, there was no hope in a hypothetical scenario that a team composed of Leo and I could defeat him in a fair-and-square match. I felt the gap between us.

"I have been briefed on the situation… I’ll take you to Dew-san, so follow me. But, before that..."

Dante-san paused, cleared his throat, and read aloud from a piece of paper.

"Hark!

Allen Rovenne of the Royal Academy\'s Class 1-A is hereby appointed as a provisional member of the Kingdom’s Knight Order!

Henceforth, he shall fall under the command of the 3rd Legion Commander, Dew Owiel, and will strive to take on missions within the scope that does not hinder his studies!

Olina Zatsinger, Commander of the Yulgria Kingdom Knights.

Read by Dante Segran."

Dante-san announced the decree of my appointment as a member — well, provisional member — of the Knight Order in a clear and loud voice.

I had already received news about it from Godorfun. Commander Dew was already a busy person with a crammed schedule so the only optimal way to learn from him was to join in on the knight training here and participate in their expeditions. That said, the procedure to be able to enter this heavily guarded military post or for a student to join their expeditions was cumbersome, and it was even more of a pain in the ass to apply for every visit.

To save everyone’s time from this tedious procedure, he went ahead and utilized the knight training program — the one that the students of the Royal Academy enrolled in during the summer of their 3rd year — to get me the status of a temporary member of the Knight Order ahead of the schedule.

<Fuhaha. You may have other plans for your future than getting into the Knight Order, but I’m sure a close-up look at the knights would serve as a great learning opportunity for you.>

So was Godorfun\'s explanation. Well, I also thought my experience here might serve as a good reference to prevent discrepancies later.

The Knight Order just looked like a shady place for me so I wanted to stay away from them, but if this experience truly cleared away my suspicions, I didn\'t mind considering this as an option in the future. Anything was fair in this game of enjoying life in another world, right?

"And, this is your proof of membership. A provisional member only gets an embroiderless mantle but you will be treated as one of us while you wear it. Of course, with this comes obligations so watch your actions as well, alright? You’ll also receive a salary for the duration of your stay, it’s just some paltry amount though."

Dante-san handed me the jet-black mantle while explaining the perks of being a member.

I must say, it looked awesome. It was also quite light in contrast to the quality of the fabric. I didn\'t think it would be for sale, but it would surely cost a lot to tailor the same product.

Befitting the kingdom\'s top force, the pay was 1000 rea per hour, by no means a paltry amount. Or maybe my financial value as a country bumpkin had yet to adjust? Whatever the case, I was glad to have it. As a matter of fact, the Geography Research Club that I had established alongside Coco was in dire need of funds, without which its activities were stagnant.

That said, could you imagine getting paid just to join in training? I felt like a freeloader mooching off free money, but Dante-san\'s explanation \'You’re still one of the Knight Order, even if temporary, so training is also work\' had weight.

I swiftly donned the mantle and entered the military post following Dante-san.

◆◆◆

The military post was truly quite vast after passing through the relatively small gate, just as I imagined it to be. The first thing that I saw was a 50-step fan-shaped stairway right after the guard post. I presumed this place was a hilly area originally, and later it was reclaimed to build this garrison.

Ascending the stairs, there was a cobblestone square, and a red carpet stretched straight toward the front building. This place should be used for a ceremony to honorably welcome influential people visiting here for inspection.

We entered the building, avoiding the red carpet, and walked straight through to a vast courtyard. There, the knights were spread out while performing their training like sham battles or swinging practice.

Noticing our entrance, they all stopped and directed curious glances my way… Well, I more or less skipped the usual system through the forceful intervention of Godorfun despite being a first-year, so I expected this attention.

In the meanwhile, a familiar-looking person, with his mouth curved into a grin, approached us. He wore a jet-black mantle on his back.

"You\'re finally here huh, Allen Rovenne-kun? I\'m Justin Locke. You haven\'t forgotten me, right?"

"Of course. You were attending the reception area during the practical exam at the Royal Academy, right? I didn\'t expect you to be here, much less a member of the Knight Order."

Justin onii-san cackled hearing my response.

"Ahahaha. I saw that coming. But, not everyone is qualified to be present there during the entrance exam. Who did you think I was?"

"...As embarrassing as it might be, I thought you were a support from the 3rd year."

"Hahaha! No, sorry I laugh. It\'s just that, everyone except the notified staff was not allowed to enter the premises of the school during the exam, even the already enrolled students, to prevent any mishap. I’m surprised you hopped on the exam train blind and even got into Class A."

...Praise my dad for it, I guess?

I wonder if this person\'s common sense has left for a vacation. He even rattled off seemingly confidential information like \'Practical exam scores are heavily influenced by the examiner\'s discretion\' proudly.

While I was laughing dryly, Justin-san continued.

"Then, I guess you don\'t know that he is also a knight as well?"

I followed the gaze of the grinning Justin-san and looked at the middle-aged security guard standing there, clearly hungover and in an annoyed mood.

E/N - It’s going to be an interesting next chapter with that cliffhanger.